I actually expect the people reading along to these snippets to figure this one out. The real question is whether the folks reading the whole thing for the first time will, too. Guess we’ll see!
I waited inside for three days, just in case I showed symptoms. Not symptoms of the Plague, you understand: I do everything the government and the doctors have told me to avoid getting sick from that. I do it, because it works. I’ve never even had a symptom of the Plague.
No, what I was looking for were symptoms of becoming a mouthy. That’s got to be the way they reproduce, you see: get too close to one for too long, and you’ll become one yourself. And there’s nothing to stop that. The only thing you can do is find a mirror, and stare.
But the gash-mouth never appeared, thank God. And my teeth didn’t feel any different when I ran my tongue over and around them. Most of all, I didn’t feel like a mouthy. How did I know? It’s the eyes. When I looked in the mirror, the mirror didn’t show me back the contemptuous gaze of a mouthy. So much of the horror of them for me comes when I think about the mindset of those monsters. What they must think of normal people! How they must fear us!
God, I hope they still fear us. If they ever stop…